𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐭 & 𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫|| 𝐒. 𝐋𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐳

Rue Does Not Want to Be Guided|| 2.

Meadow-Rue's day had been spent in the back of classrooms, watching the clock tick away. A couple classes had dragged on in slow motion, but there hadn't been anything too bad about them. Just dull. She had kept to herself for the most part and faded into the background as she wished.

With each little tick she listened to a second of her life flashed away. These little moments swirled around without much worth, until they'd eventually collect into two more years of schooling. Two more years of school walls, and squeaking linoleum floors would cradle Meadow-Rue if she even made it that long in life.

Even now, as she sat perched in a plastic chair outside of Emma's office, she could hear the secretary's clock ticking away. Ever tiny click was the gathering of her mortality. A wasted fraction of her time which she'd never be able to get back. Not unless science gets freakily advanced in her lifetime.

Meadow-Rue picked at the skin around her nails, which were covered in chipped and faded green polish. There was a deep gash along the top of her hand, healed over and scarred now, even though it was a wound which would never really heal. She flexed her fingers, stretching them out and watching the white, jagged line move too. There were no hand tremors at the moment, there hadn't been in a few days, but the damage was already done-

"Meadow-Rue, are you ready?" Meadow-Rue hadn't noticed the subtle sound of the door opening, but sure enough Ms. Pillsbury was standing in front of the open way, waiting for her. She snagged her bag from the floor beside her silently, but with a nod of acknowledgment, and followed Emma inside.

Meadow-Rue looked around briefly, taking note of how outrageously neat the room was. There was not a speck of dust to be seen, or so much as an out of place paperclip. There was a box of disinfectant wipes on her pale desk, from which she plucked one of to scrub at the wood. Meadow-Rue wondered if there some kind of mess she hadn't seen, or if Emma just had a thing for germs.

"Please, sit," Emma gestured to a cushioned chair, which had a dark and plush seat with a wooden frame. Meadow-Rue did as asked and sat down in the seat, and once again fidgeted with her necklace. She watched Emma for another 15 seconds or so, just washing an invisible mess from her desk before she finally discarded the cleaning wipe and sat. "So, how's your first day at Mckinley going?"

'Tick, tick, tick,' Meadow-Rue was once again acquainted with the dull clock's song. Over and over again it chirped, and at this point Meadow-Rue wished she could rip the batteries out of it. She smoothed her white t-shirt out so she could look away from Emma for a second. She didn't want to be here. In Ohio, or this school, and she especially didn't want to be in this guidance councilors's office.

It wasn't like she had a choice in the matter though.

Her lips pressed into a line. "It's been fine," she answered. The only people she had talked to so far were teachers, Will mostly, but it was better than nothing. She still thought the day was moving miraculously slowly though. Overwhelming things generally moved quickly, but she supposed there was an exception to every rule. "Uneventful, mostly."

Emma scooted forward in her seat, with the wheels of her chair squeaking ardently. "Oh, well that's okay," she sounded like a wind chime... maybe Meadow-Rue was just being cynical. The woman seemed nice enough, quite similar to her last school's in-house shrink. "It's just the first day, you'll have plenty of time for more eventful days," she spoke politely, with a warmth that was lost from Meadow-Rue's voice. "Have you talked to any of the other kids yet?"

Meadow-Rue's foot tapped gently on the carpeted floor, which was a plain grey. The bland thrum of her shoe collided with the ticking of the clock, creating a symphony- a cacophony was a better descriptor. "No," her response came through grit teeth, with little to no liveliness. "I've just been focusing on getting to all my classes, and during lunch I was very occupied with..." Meadow-Rue thumped her thumbs across her thighs in thought. "With reading the school's handbook, you know- gotta be prepared so I don't get dress coded or anything," she replied with a lack luster hum.